UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Junior Sarah Downing scored three goals and added four assists Thursday as the 11th-ranked Vanderbilt women's lacrosse team defeated Johns Hopkins, 14-8, in the opening round game of the 2009 American Lacrosse Conference Tournament.

The Commodore defense held Hopkins to only 14 shots on the day, while Vanderbilt's offense peppered the Blue Jay goal with a total of 34 shots. Downing and sophomore Katherine Denkler each scored three goals for Vanderbilt (10-5, 2-2 ALC).

Behind seven draw controls from freshman Ally Carey, the Commodores won 16 of the game's 24 draws. Defensively, VU junior Alex Mundy had four ground balls and Megan Gibson had three.

Vanderbilt broke open a four-goal lead early in the opening nine minutes of the game. The Commodores took an 8-4 lead into the break as Denkler and junior Carter Foote scored off Downing assists.

In the second half, the Blue Jays got within two goals on a pair of occasions, but the Commodores answered each time. Another four-goal run midway through the second half gave VU a 13-7 lead with eight minutes to play.

On Friday, No. 11 Vanderbilt will take on No. 1 Northwestern in the semifinals of the ALC Tournament, May 1, at 2:00 p.m. CT.

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STATE COLLEGE, PA - Eleventh-ranked Vanderbilt used a four-goal run midway through the second half to turn a two-goal game into a six-goal as the Commodores defeated Johns Hopkins 14-8 in the first round of the ALC Tournament Thursday afternoon. The Blue Jays' season ends at 5-12 while the Commodores improve to 10-5 and advance to the ALC Semifinals where they will face the top-seeded Northwestern Wildcats.

Cara Giordano put the Commodores early, scoring off a left-side dodge just 34 seconds in. Two minutes later, freshman All-ALC selection Colleen McCaffrey (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) tied the game for the Blue Jays with her 10th free position goal of the season. Vanderbilt responded with a four-goal run in a four-minute span to push out to a 5-1 lead. Katherine Denkler ignited the run going when she redirected a pass from Sarah Downing with 25:11 to play. Just over a minute later, Ally Carey scored after she rolled the crease and fired a shot over sophomore Julianne Wisner's (Parkton, MD/Notre Dame Prep) left shoulder. Downing then scored a pair of back-to-back goals and the deficit was four with 21:21 remaining.

Freshman Candace Rossi (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) then sandwiched a pair around a goal from Anastasia Adam. Junior Paige Ibello (Cockeysville, MD/Maryvale Prep) followed with a free position goal and Hopkins trailed 6-4 with 8:43 to play. Vanderbilt closed out the half with a pair of goals from Denkler and Carter Foote to take an 8-4 lead into the lockerroom.

Just three minutes into the second stanza, junior All-ACL selection Angela Hughes (Manchester, MD/North Carroll) dodged the left side and scored on a hard shot. Just over a minute later, McCaffrey cutting across the arc, collected a pass from junior Brett Bathras (Severna Park, MD/Severn School) and fired a hard shot past Natalie Willis for her second of the day and it was an 8-6 game.

Carey pushed the lead back to three for the Commodores after winning the draw and carrying the ball straight to cage, scoring on a low shot. Junior Sam Schrum (Pasadena, MD/St. Mary's) took a pass in traffic from Hughes, avoided a defender and scored on a low shot to cut the deficit back to two at 9-7 with 23:19 to play.

Vanderbilt responded with four unanswered goals over the next 14 minutes as it slowly pushed out to a 13-7 lead. Downing got things going, scoring off a Carey pass, as four different Commodores scored during the run. Freshman Rachel Ballatori (Rochester, NY/Brighton) halted the run, with her fifth of the season at 7:36. From the top of the arc, McCaffrey fired a nifty pass to Ballatori, who fired it home from the doorstep to make it a 13-8 game. Courtney Kirk scored a free position goal for Vanderbilt with just 33 ticks on the clock to account for the 14-8 final.

McCaffrey and Rossi paced the Blue Jays with a pair of goals each, while Hughes (1g, 1a) also had a multi-point day. For the Commodores, Downing and Denkler each netted hat tricks, while Downing also added four assists. Wisner played the first half in cage for Hopkins and finished with four saves, while junior Lizzie O'Ferrall (Baltimore, MD/Mount De Sales) played the second and made three stops. Willis posted four saves to earn the win for Vanderbilt.

2009-04-30